diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 69c8beb0..a037cead 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ All notable changes to `mcp/sdk` will be documented in this file.
 * Fix `Psr16NotificationBus` subscribers missing the notifications published after the bus stayed quiet for longer than its TTL: the sequence counter no longer expires, and a subscriber whose cursor is ahead of a lost counter reads what the bus holds.
 * Fix `Session::save()` wiping the other keys of a session that the store failed to read, e.g. when `Psr16SessionStore` hits a cache error: it now returns `false` instead of writing the changed keys alone.
 * Add `Psr6SessionStore` and `Psr6NotificationBus`, which work like `Psr16SessionStore` and `Psr16NotificationBus` over a PSR-6 cache pool. `Builder::setDiscovery()` also accepts a PSR-6 pool as `$cache`.
+* Fix a nullable tool parameter with a default (e.g. `?string $category = 'books'`) receiving the default when the client explicitly sends `null`: `ReferenceHandler` now passes the `null` through.
 
 ### Client
 
diff --git a/src/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandler.php b/src/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandler.php
index ff10de31..06498bc2 100644
--- a/src/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandler.php
+++ b/src/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandler.php
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ private function prepareArguments(\ReflectionFunctionAbstract $reflection, array
                 }
             }
 
-            if (isset($arguments[$paramName])) {
+            if (isset($arguments[$paramName]) || (\array_key_exists($paramName, $arguments) && $parameter->allowsNull())) {
                 $argument = $arguments[$paramName];
                 try {
                     $finalArgs[$paramPosition] = $this->castArgumentType($argument, $parameter);
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandlerTest.php b/tests/Unit/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandlerTest.php
index 830f97e3..5ce038e9 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandlerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Capability/Registry/ReferenceHandlerTest.php
@@ -136,6 +136,25 @@ public function search(string $query, ClientGateway $gateway): string
         $this->assertInstanceOf(ClientGateway::class, $handler->receivedGateway);
     }
 
+    public function testHandlePassesAnExplicitNullToANullableParameterWithADefault(): void
+    {
+        $session = $this->createMock(SessionInterface::class);
+        $session->method('getId')->willReturn(Uuid::v4());
+
+        $handler = new class {
+            public function search(?string $category = 'books'): string
+            {
+                return var_export($category, true);
+            }
+        };
+
+        $reference = new ElementReference([$handler, 'search']);
+        $context = ['_session' => $session, '_request' => new PingRequest()];
+
+        $this->assertSame('NULL', (new ReferenceHandler())->handle($reference, $context + ['category' => null]));
+        $this->assertSame("'books'", (new ReferenceHandler())->handle($reference, $context));
+    }
+
     public function testHandleResolvesAClassStringAndMethodPairToAnInstance(): void
     {
         $session = $this->createMock(SessionInterface::class);